Sponsors (2)
Official title: To amend titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to enhance financial support for rural and safety net hospitals providing maternity, labor, and delivery services to vulnerable populations, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 12, 2025 by Suzanne Bonamici · Last progress June 12, 2025
The bill expands maternal coverage, stabilizes payments and boosts workforce and data tools to protect local maternity care—especially for Medicaid enrollees and rural communities—while shifting significant costs and new administrative burdens onto federal, state, and provider budgets and creating oversight, legal, and operational risks.
Pregnant people on Medicaid/CHIP will get continuous full Medicaid benefits throughout pregnancy and for 12 months postpartum, improving continuity of care and likely maternal/newborn health outcomes.
Low‑volume and rural obstetric hospitals will receive targeted 'anchor' payments and a statutory minimum Medicaid/CHIP payment floor, increasing revenue stability and helping keep local maternity services open.
Communities facing hospital closures will gain faster federal workforce support (Commissioned Corps deployments and training funded at $150M/year) plus streamlined 5‑year out‑of‑state Medicaid provider enrollment, expanding short‑term provider access where local capacity is lost.
State governments (and ultimately taxpayers) will likely face higher Medicaid costs from required higher minimum payment rates and new mandatory coverage/benefit rules unless fully offset, pressuring state budgets and potentially forcing tradeoffs or new legislation.
Hospitals, clinics, providers and state agencies will incur substantial new administrative and reporting burdens (regular cost/payment studies, expanded Medicare cost reports, provider qualifications and coordination requirements), increasing overhead and diverting staff time from patient care.
Hospitals that accept anchor payments must meet service/training requirements and face repayment risk (including preferred creditor recovery in bankruptcy), which could be burdensome or risky for financially struggling rural hospitals.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Mandates 12-month full-benefit pregnancy-related Medicaid/CHIP coverage, requires state studies on maternity care costs, stronger notice/reporting for obstetric unit closures, and allows federal surge staffing for maternal care gaps.
Requires states to study and report costs of hospital maternity, labor, and delivery services and directs HHS to compile a national report; makes 12-month continuous full-benefit pregnancy-related Medicaid and CHIP coverage mandatory (removing pregnancy-only limits); strengthens federal rules before hospitals may close obstetric units and expands Medicare cost-reporting for labor-and-delivery data; and authorizes Public Health Service/Commissioned Corps personnel to be detailed to respond to urgent maternal health care needs such as facility closures or sudden workforce losses. It sets timelines for studies, cost-reporting, and phased implementation of the Medicaid/CHIP coverage change, and includes state transition protections while state legislatures enact required changes.